On Media

Rep. Keith Ellison recounts an encounter with a Daily Beast reporter on a CSPAN appearance Thursday.

Daily Beast pushes back on Rep. Ellison slam

By HADAS GOLD

07/31/2014 03:42 PM EDT

The Daily Beast is pushing back against Rep. Keith Ellison's claim that senior congressional correspondent Tim Mak acted unprofessionally by "chasing" the Minnesota Democrat down a hallway and not introducing himself while trying to get Ellison to talk about Israel.

In an appearance on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" on Thursday, Ellison said Mak (a former POLITICO reporter) didn't say who he was and "jammed a microphone in my face."

"I’m a tremendous supporter of the profession of journalism. But just like any profession, politicians, whoever, there are some people who abuse the privileges that they have," Ellison said. "I’m not going to make some off-the-cuff, out-of-the-pocket comment just because somebody’s rudely chasing me down a hall. I think the journalist was very unprofessional."

Ellison called the story, which is about how left-wing politicians won't criticize Israel in the ongoing conflict with Gaza, "inflammatory" and that Mak was just trying to "exploit me so that they can get clicks on their website." Ellison also said he thinks The Daily Beast is an "excellent institution" but that Mak is a "bad apple in the barrel."

In an interview, Mak said he ran into Ellison in the Rayburn building and that after he introduced himself by name and organization, Ellison asked if reporters are "even allowed in this building; aren't you supposed to be over in the Capitol?" (Reporters usually track down members of Congress in the actual Capitol building though congressional office buildings like Rayburn are open to the public and reporters.)

Mak said he followed Ellison and rode an elevator with him, asking the Congressman to expand on a column he wrote in The Washington Post calling for an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Mak said Ellison's office later called the Daily Beast to complain about Mak's aggressive style.

Mak pointed to Ellison's quote in his piece to show Ellison knew he was a reporter. Ellison is quoted as saying, “Look, man, I’m a politician, with multiple constituencies. Why should I alienate one just so that you can write a story?”

"The idea that I didn’t introduce myself is kind of shut down by the quote he gave me," Mak said. "The quote, which is not disputed by his office in any way, indicates that he knew I was a reporter, that I introduced myself as a reporter and we were talking about a story we were writing. The further charge that I jammed the microphone in his face, the microphone was held at waist level. I never jabbed it at him."

"Tim Mak is a first-rate reporter and a super professional. He’s not in the business of ambushing people. However, members of Congress are public figures, and they get buttonholed by reporters all the time, and sometimes those reporters ask questions a congressman would rather not answer," Shachtman said. "We stand by [Mak] and we stand by the story."

A spokesperson for Ellison said in an email that Ellison said only that Mak didn't introduce himself, not that he didn't know Mak was a reporter.